Illinois recently received approval for a flexibility waiver from the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The state was allowed to develop a new plan in order to prepare students for college and careers.

A new generation of American vets are home from war — about 2.6 million of them. And older veterans, many from the Vietnam era, are now hitting in their 60s, 70s or 80s — there's about 10 million of them. Taking care of both groups is getting expensive.

The Federal Aviation Administration says it has issued the first permit in its history for an unmanned aircraft to fly over U.S. soil. Oil company BP will use a drone from the company AeroVironment to conduct surveys in Alaska.

Five U.S. service members have died in southern Afghanistan, in a possible case of friendly fire. Afghan media are citing a local official who says the troops' air support mistakenly bombed their position. The attack is still under investigation.

Declining enrollment at Eastern Illinois University is forcing the school to seek out about $6-million in cuts. But an administrator says the school in Charleston has yet to identify where those cuts will be made.